Xanyr's Decision
by Xanyr
Summary: A One-shot story set shortly after the end of G3, in which my Mabinogi character, Xanyr, must decide to remain a Paladin or become a Dark Knight. My first uploaded fanfic. Rated "T" for paranoia's sake. Please R&R!


The young man of 18 swept his dark blue hair out of his face, while he sat in the Entrance room of Albey Dungeon in Tir Na Nogg, the "Other World" that existed alongside Erinn. Xanyr smiled at his best friend, Tsumishiro, and his new friend, Angelluna. Tsumi had been one of his closest friends in the last couple months since his wife, Mysticsakura had left him. He was eternally grateful to Tsumishiro for remaining his friend, even though he met her through Mystic.

Xanyr stood up. It was nearly 6 A.M. Sun up. He brushed dust off of the brown school uniform he was wearing. "Well, I guess it's almost time," Xan announced. Tsumishiro had just turned into her Paladin form. Xanyr followed suit, hovering slightly into the air as he began to shine with a brilliant white light. He crossed his arms in front of his face, and slightly curled his legs, almost putting his body into the fetal position. Suddenly, he stretched out, his fists near his waist, elbows bent slightly, feet pointing at the ground a foot below them. And all at once, Xanyr's body gave off a blinding flash and he was no longer himself. He was wearing shining white armor, and stood about 2 feet taller than he did before. He dropped to the ground and stood up straight, a Paladin, one of the Knights of Light. Xanyr grinned at his friends from behind his helmet. "Wish me luck. I've got a Fomorian Wizard to see."

Tsumishiro nodded as she turned back into her normal form in a swirl of white wind. She dropped to the ground as she returned to her normal height, and her long lilac hair fell back down into place. "Good luck Xan. And just remember," she began, smiling. "No matter what, you'll always be you." Xanyr nodded. He silently thanked her for those words of encouragement. Now, he could have the courage to face whatever lay waiting for him inside that dungeon.

Putting his hand in front of the bright blue gem in the middle of his chestplate, a black rectangle of paper appeared and fell into his hand. Xanyr walked to the Altar of Albey Dungeon and dropped the Dugeon Pass he had previously recieved from Duncan. As soon as the paper hit the floor, the Fomorian writing on it began to glow and Xanyr felt the familiar swirl of mystical energies that always accompanied an Offering to enter a Dungeon. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in the Altar Room of Albey Dungeon. He thought to himself how strange it seemed that the Altar Room and Entrance Rooms of Dungeons looked the same, even though the Entrances and Dungeons seemed to exist within different dimensions. The Altar Rooms always lacked the doorway into the Dungeon, but had stairs leading down into the Dungeon which the Entrance Rooms lacked. He shook his head, telling himself to focus on what needed to be done.

"Summon Drumhort!" He called out into the musky air. In an instant, a lean dog wearing armor similar to his own Paladin Armor, obviously shaped for a dog, had appeared. Drumhort, the Paladin Dog walked over to his master and sat by his feet. Xanyr knelt down and patted the Borzoi's armored head. "Let's go boy!" Together, they walked down the stairs and into Albey Dungeon proper. Xanyr felt the writhing energy of the Armor of Darkness pulsating happily, it was glad to be home, and he felt it's concsiousness connect with his own more powerfully than ever. Walking through the corridor, Xanyr turned the corner and soon found himself in an small room. In the wall opposite him, Xanyr could see an doorway that led to a dead-end after a short hallway. In the four corners of the room stood small silver posts, each one holding a dark red crystal orb in the top. On the north wall was a massive door that had a huge lock in the middle. Chains half the size of Xanyr's arm bound the door. He had seen many rooms like this one in his Dungeon-crawling. He knew one of the orbs would unlock and open the massive door, while the other three would trigger a trap that summoned a few Fomors or Fomorian-controlled monsters. He walked to the middle of the room and bent to pick up a rock. He turned to face the door, his faithful Borzoi standing beside him, tail wagging, eager to help his master. he threw the rock at the red orb on the right side of the door. once it hit, four large Gray Town Rats appeared in puffs of black smoke. "Trap Orb," Xanyr muttered as he picked up another rock. he threw it at the orb on the left side of the locked door. This time, the Rats all vanished in another cloud of black smoke, as the lock opened and fell off the door, which in turn rose into the wall like a castle gate.

"_There... That's where you and I will become one..._" The voice of the Armor of Darkness spoke inside Xanyr's mind. He shook his head to ignore it. He walked towards the massive doorway, and as soon as he crossed the threshold into the large room where the Black Wizard stood waiting for him, his Paladin armor evaporated in a white wind, as did Drumhort's.

The pair of them walked towards the Wizard. As Xanyr approached him, the Wizard spoke. "Good thing I have waited... So, are you mentally prepared for this?" Xanyr slowly nodded his head. "Let your heart decide what you want to do... Once you have made your decision, there's no turning back. That's how decisions work..." he stood stiffly, waiting for Xanyr's decision.

"I've decided to accept the Armor of Darkness and bond with it fully," Xanyr said, taking a deep breath. "I wish to be a Dark Knight!" The Black Wizard nodded his approval and walked a few feet away from Xanyr. He turned to face the young man.

He thrust his hands in front of him, and began calling out his Ritual, "... I now peg this person as the one that draws power from the greed and desire within..." A dark, red auric energy began to emanate from the Wizard's hands. Xanyr looked at the floor around him, seeing a red, flamelike aura rise around him and surround his body. He felt nervous, this was nothing like when he gained the powers of the Knight of Light. The Black Wizard continued his ritual. "Oh the powers of darkness, may you provide the eternal power to your obedient servant!" The auric energy intensified as the actual Spell portion of the ritual began to take effect. He heard the Armor of Darkness laughing maniacally inside his head, felt the Light of Lugh fade from inside his heart. Xanyr clutched his head in pain. The Dark Energies envelopping his body felt like they had their own gravity and his knees and back bent slightly under the strain of trying to stand upright. Suddenly, he arched backwards, the weight of the Darkness gone. He could see the black wind encircling his body like a dome, and he saw the last of the Paladin's Light drift away. He knew he would never feel that light again, but he didn't care. He bent forward a little bit, his head down and his shoulders slumped, a thick black cloud masking his body from sight.

Xanyr stood upright as the smoke dissipated, a few feet taller than he was before, now cloaked in black armor. He knew instantly that the armor had symbiotic properties, very different from the Paladin Armor. He had figured everything would change if he became a Dark Knight. Instead, this form felt very similar to the Paladin form he had grown accustomed to. "So this is the power of the Dark Knight..." he said, nodding. A little surprised, he had half-expected that he wouldn't hear the Armor of Darkness' voice anymore after the Ritual, but he was somewhat mistaken. Instead, when he spoke, the Armor of Darkness added it's voice to his own, such that the two voices were the same, not speaking simultaneously, but the Dark Knight Xanyr spoke with a mix of Xanyr's real voice and that of the Armor of Darkness that he heard inside his head. In an instant, Xanyr found himself standing in the middle of Tir Chonaill square in his normal form, Drumhort standing a few feet behind him. Xanyr looked up at the bright blue sky of early morning. He had taken on the power of the Fomors and become a Dark Knight to give his friends and the world of Erinn a better chance. He fell from light to become the perfect spy to gather intelligence on the Fomorian plans. From now on, he had to be very careful. Who knew what might happen to him if the Fomorians ever found out he wasn't really on their side. But for now, Xanyr knew he had made the best choice for himself, for his Guild, for all of Erinn. He didn't know if any other Dark Knights had similar reasonings to his for why they changed, and he didn't care. All he cared about was his next mission. And staying alive to bring about peace in Erinn.


End file.
